Gosselin: Why Glen Gulutzan was fired; Stars should have kept Tippett

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TONY GUTIERREZ / AP

THE CAREER OF GLEN GULUTZAN: Dallas Stars head coach Glen Gulutzan (left) talks with left wing Jamie Benn after Benn scored against Nashville in the third period of their game on Friday, Dec. 23, 2011, at American Airlines Center in Dallas. The Stars won the game, 6-3.

Columnist Rick Gosselin joined Norm Hitzges on 1310 AM The Ticket on Tuesday. Here are some highlights from the show.

On Glen Gulutzan:

“I think Joe Nieuwendyk may have been trying to reinvent the wheel there by bringing in a young guy with a lot of energy but without a whole lot of experience and I think in two years Gulutzan has grown immensely. I think he’s become a much better coach than what he was when he came in coming from the AHL. Different level of player, different speed of the game, there’s a major adjustment. I think it took him a year to make that adjustment. He took some strides last year. I don’t think Jim Nill will keep him on. I think a new GM wants a new coach.”

On if Gulutzan is emerging as an upper-level coach:

“When a new GM comes in he wants his own guy. He wants somebody on the same page as him. He wants his guy, where the guy has a commitment to the GM. Gulutzan has a commitment to the past GM. As good as Gulutzan may become, he may be a guy that five, 10, 15 years from now wins Stanley Cups. I don’t think that will be here. I think Nill is going to want to bring in his own guy. I think it will be a veteran guy, probably a guy with a system who’s had success with his system in this league. That’s not Gulutzan.”

On if it might be Dave Tippett or Ken Hitchcock:

“They were successful there. This franchise probably would have better served to have kept Tippett and to have brought back Hitchcock at some point. Hitcock is one of the four or five best coaches in all of hockey.”

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